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Jeffrey KoepperwithJason SloanLive atThe Gatherings Concert SeriesSaturday 19 April 2008 8:00pmSt. Mary's Hamilton VillagePhiladelphia, PA |
Jason Sloan
Jason Sloan
Jason Sloan
Jason Sloan
Jason Sloan
Jason Sloan
Jason Sloan
Jason Sloan .
Jeffrey Koepper
Jeffrey Koepper
Jeffrey Koepper |
Jeffrey Koepper + Jason Sloan at The Gatherings Concert Series - Commentary
I thought it would be cool to have two musicians from the nearby city of Baltimore play concerts at The Gatherings. It's really not that far away from Philadelphia (about 100 miles) and over the past ten years or so has produced some most interesting artists, personalities and events. Among the current crop is Jeffrey Koepper and Jason Sloan, both contemporaries - yet exploring totally different realms of sound. Plus, what with Koepper's triumphant opening set for Steve Roach on 05.19.07, the idea of having him back had been brewing for some time. I'd had Jason Sloan play on STAR'S END a few times over the years, and knew him as an introspective soundscape artist. I've aired his CD "Still" on STAR'S END, as well as "A Bleeding White Silence". These works delve into two distinctly different areas of Ambient Music. His on-air performances captured both these moods, and more. Also, having played so well on STAR'S END, I knew Jason was capable of holding his own on a stage when it counted most. For The Gatherings, I'd asked Jason to please put together a more active set, something with a bit of focus. His STAR'S END radio concerts were full of nuanced textures that gently led the listener across several soundscapes. I thought that The Gatherings concert audience would appreciate something that went well beyond atmosphere. What we got at The Gatherings was well beyond what I'd imagined. Opening with a dense cloud front of sound, Jason played his guitar through extensive processing. With its subtle changes in key this section drifted through the church sanctuary, filling the rafters with heavenly tones. As the chords echoed away an electronic percussion loop rose. This may have been the first time Jason has tried something like this; at least I'd never heard beats in his music before. It was wonderful; the rhythm kept building as Jason worked chords and effects over and under the pattern. Throughout the concert he would show innovations like this. Along with playing AM radio static into an open microphone, he also used his voice to harmonize with the layers of electronic pads he'd built up, a warm human element to an otherwise digital experience. Sloan's set lasted about 30 minutes. In that brief time he said alot. His message was mainly about growth. Like the way his synthesized sounds and echoing tones filled up the sanctuary, his music fills the listener with a creative presence. I'd first seen Jeffery Koepper when he was playing in the duo Pure Gamma. It was at a rave in DC during the mid-1990s. Their music was an interesting mix of the current modern chillout scene and old school spacemusic. It wasn't long before Pure Gamma played a few concerts at The Gatherings (09.28.96 and 05.02.97). The duo never managed to get their full-length CD released before they ceased making music together. Fortunately, Koepper incorporates some of their lasting musical ideas on his first solo CD "Etherea". Followed by "Momentium", Koepper again demonstrates ample technical craft and compositional ability in the studio. Having seen him play so well with Pure Gamma, I'd been after Koepper to play out live solo for quite some time. But it took the prodding of Steve Roach to see this realized. Koepper got it together at Roach's 05.19.07 performance at The Gatherings - which produced enough interest to get Jeffrey into a live on-air STAR'S END radio concert in early 2008 and on stage at The Gatherings this night. Koepper's set lasted about an hour and traversed much of the same territory as his last two outings (on STAR'S END and opening for Steve Roach). With an emphasis on works from his new CD "Sequentaria" (released at The Gatherings this night), the set began with some vintage phase shifted synth pads, heroic E-drums and dancing arpeggio scales. Drawing on the digital music era that spawned such albums as "Poland", "Logos" and "White Eagle"; Koepper ran through a fascinating range of sequencer based pieces - his full-throated lead lines soaring above. His stage set-up included several keyboards, among them vintage museum grade synhs right alongside the latest retro analogue technology. Between each of the rhythmic sections Koepper used these instruments to lull the audience with deep drones and airy synthetic harmonies and effects. To close out the night, Jeff played lovely chord progressions on the Prophet-8 over a simple run of tones from the arpeggiator on the Jupiter-6. Looking back, this was the most honest and intimate part of his performance. Too bad there were not more people there to experience it. While the audience that did turn out was as enthusiastic as they were informed, it is financially difficult to produce events when attendance doesn't cover the basic costs. Plus, these artists deserve to be heard - what they are doing is worthwhile. The Gatherings Concert Series can provide them with a great sound system and a magnificent place to play, but an appreciative audience is perhaps more vital to their art. Commentary by Chuck van Zyl - Spacemusic Impresario 28 April 2008
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Jeffrey Koepper
Jeffrey Koepper
Jeffrey Koepper
Jeffrey Koepper . Concert Photos by Jeff Towne . | |
Jeffrey Koepper w/Jason Sloan live at The Gatherings Concert Series on 19 April 2008 is funded by CIMA of PA (The Corporation for Innovative Music and Arts of Pennsylvania), the all-volunteer, non-profit organization responsible for organizing and producing The Gatherings Concert Series. The basic mission of CIMA of PA is to bring innovative music concerts to the public and further the advancement of this artform. For more about CIMA of PA, please access the Mission Statement
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For more about Jeffrey Koepper, please access the:
For more about Jason Sloan, please access:
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The Gatherings Concert Series is presented by the all-volunteer staff of The Corporation for Innovative Music and Arts of Pennsylvania
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